


Words Not Meant to Be Heard

by lostinyouruniverse



Series: letters [1]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Constructive Criticism Welcome, Demon Genji Shimada, Demon Hana Song, Demon Hanzo Shimada, Fantasy, Hunter Jesse McCree, Implied/Referenced Suicide attempt, Letters, M/M, My First AO3 Post, My First Work in This Fandom, and the reference to the attempt is super vague, are you TELLING me there's no demon hana tag ao3, ask to tag, but just in case, i'm disappointed in all of you, the mentioned suicidal character is fine now
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-13
Updated: 2019-02-13
Packaged: 2019-10-27 07:01:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17762039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostinyouruniverse/pseuds/lostinyouruniverse
Summary: Hanzo,You didn’t deserve to die bloody.His breath caught in his chest. Letters, he realized. They were letters.





	Words Not Meant to Be Heard

**Author's Note:**

> This is dedicated to the Between East & West Discord server! I love you guys, you're super duper cool and so so sweet. This is my thank you to you all for inspiring me to start writing for this pairing. <3

Hanzo had been missing for four years when he found the box.

It was a curious find, stashed in the back of an old closet at the abandoned Overwatch hideout. Covered in dust, it seemed to have been forgotten. Hoping for a clue as to the team’s whereabouts, he had dragged it out into the hallway and opened the lid, only to physically balk at seeing his name written on the piles of papers inside.

He picked up a page, gently, and read the short line written in pitch black ink with an almost immature element to the handwriting. Hana, he realized. The only other demon on the Overwatch team, besides his brother.

_Hanzo,_

_You didn’t deserve to die bloody._

His breath caught in his chest. Letters, he realized. They were letters.

He turned his gaze to the miniature chest, a lovely wooden thing with delicate carvings etched into the side. Wards, they seemed to be. Hanzo ran a hand over the symbols engraved in the wood and felt the magic pulsing off of every rune. Yes, they were wards - on a chest full of letters addressed to him.

Hanzo left the base alone, and brought the letters with him.

———

The next letter that Hanzo found the strength to open was written in his native tongue, the ink dark yet shimmering with a bright green hue. Charmed, for security, most likely. 

The first words alone hit him like a train.

_Aniki._

_I will make this brief, as these things tend not to be. I know you value brevity over chatter._

_You died approximately 10 months ago to a collapsing building strongly warded against demons. In truth, and this is not easy to say, I had never felt more pain in my life than I had when I saw the structure collapse on top of you. That is the briefest truth I can give you, but I have so much more to say._

_I forgive you, aniki._

_I forgive you for that night where we both lost a part of ourselves. I forgive you for raising your blade against me. I forgive you, dear brother, for ever touching your sword against my skin. There has never been a time when I have not._

_I forgive you for all the times we have fought, as well. I forgive you for every sour word you have spoken towards me._

_I forgive you for when you stole a bite of my slice of birthday cake when I was turning five. I forgive you for running away when I cried in the courtyard after Fuyuko broke up with me. I forgive you for being a child, and doing small cruelties as children are wont to do._

_I forgive you for everything, big and small, aniki, and I will miss you for the rest of my life._

In the corner of his eye, the dragons chirped at a glowing red light emanating from the map, but Hanzo did not see.

In that moment, all he saw were the words of his brother. 

———

_Hanzo,_

_I’m not quite sure where you are. Not quite sure if this’ll get to you, either, if this can even get to you at all. I feel like I don’t know anything right now._

_The first night we got back, Genji cried. I swear I ain’t ever seen him so much as tear up before - hell, I didn’t even know he could. He cried and cried until his legs gave out and all he could do was take in these big, shaky breaths and cling at Zenyatta like he was some sort of lifeline._

_I cried too, snapdragon. I cried so much I forgot what dry eyes were like. It ain’t right, living without you, and I knew it when Hana first screamed out for help, I knew it when Lucio ran back with an ashen face and blood on his hands. I knew it when the walls of that damned building collapsed in a blaze of glory and all I could think of was you._

_It’s been about a month, now. Genji is out there looking for you, but we all know he ain’t gonna find anything. Hana went with him the first couple times. He brought her back, after she slipped up again. You know what I mean. But she’s got me and the team, and I think she’ll be alright. Only a small scar this time; Genji got her out early._

_She was shaking like a damn leaf, that girl, when she came back to herself. Said something in that language of yours, cried out your name (and mine and Angie’s and so, so many others, but she always came back to yours). I held her until she fell asleep that night, and it reminded me of what you’d do for me when the nightmares struck._

_I don’t know why you did it, baby. You could have made it out of there all fine. You didn’t have to chase them down. You didn’t have to go inside that death trap. Dammit, I wish you hadn’t, I wish upon everything that you’d just come back. I want you back._

_Fuck, it would be wrong to say I loved you, because I still do. I love you, angel, more than I’ve ever loved before, and I’ll carry that love with me when the time comes to cross to the other side. God, if you’re there, I hope it’s soon. I wanna have you again, in my arms, with your face in my neck and my lips in your hair. I can’t quite fathom that I’m never gonna get that back. I don’t think I’m ready to._

_Like I said, I don’t know where you are, what you’re doing. Whatever tree you’re perching in this time, I hope it’s a happy one. I hope you get some time to relax, maybe a bit of those pastries you love so much. I hope you find peace, and redemption in whatever form, and I hope you finally realize just how much we all love you. I hope your death is better than your life._

_But I guess I can only wonder, snapdragon._

_JM_

Hanzo smoothed out the worn wrinkles in the paper with a trembling hand. It was old, years old, contents and yellow corners attesting to that fact. It must have been folded and unfolded hundreds of times over the last half a decade. He gently placed it back inside the box.

Without so much as a word, Hanzo lifted the chest into his arms and nodded for the two small spirits hovering over his shoulder to follow. He thanked the owner of the inn before setting out on horseback, letting the chill wind bully his hair away from his eyes and towards the shrinking city.

If his hands shook with more than the cold, there was no one around to see.

———

Five years. Four years of Talon, and a year after of nothing but spells, of frustration, of the deep, crippling fear that somehow he was too late to find them again.

It had taken five years for this moment, but damn, was it worth it.

At least, that’s what Hanzo told himself as he tucked his knife into its sheath inside his shirt and entered the tavern. It wasn’t a very lively place - it had few patrons, although some very noticeable ones, at that. A lively woman hung on the arms of a hunter, obviously drunk on more than just liquor, and a tall yet quiet patron sat in back left corner, sipping what looked to be tea and watching the pair in amusement. 

But Hanzo didn’t have eyes for any of them.

No, at the bar was a cowboy, looking like the West itself. His hat hung low over his eyes, just about hiding them from view, but his beard and bright red serape would be unmistakable anywhere. His old prosthetic had more than a couple new scratches, and what could be seen of his face looked as if he was deep in all kinds of thought. 

Jesse.

Hanzo’s breath caught in his throat. After five years, half an agonizing decade, he had found him again. It almost felt like peace, seeing him breathe again. He took the seat a couple feet away from Jesse’s and greeted the man with an old nickname.

Rather than a smile, he was met with the barrel of a gun.

This was, to be fair, exactly the welcome Hanzo would have given in his place.

“Listen here,” Jesse drawled, not bothering to look up from his drink. “You’ve got ten seconds to get your ass out of costume before I blow your fucking brains out.”

Hanzo let out a little chuckle. “I am not a shapeshifter.”

Jesse set down his drink and turned.

His eyes weren’t the soft, brown things Hanzo remembered. They were full of anger, of regret, and they were shining red with the rage of Deadeye contained in the irises, ready to burst - but, oh. Oh, how he’d missed those eyes.

“You enjoy flirtin’ with death?”

Hanzo blinks. “It is a hobby of mine.”

Jesse grits his teeth and growls at him. “Go to hell, bastard.”

The gun moved to his chest and fired.

Hanzo may be a demon, and thus immune to what would kill a mere shifter, but he was not immune to the brunt force of a bullet. He fell backwards from the barstool as the steel briefly embedded itself into his chest, cursing the bullet as more painful than he expected. His hands came up to feel the wound already begin to close and he let out a sigh of relief at the pain already beginning to melt away.

“What the fuck?” Confused, and a little hopeful. There we are, now.

The bartender shouted an incoherent protest at the violence, but Jesse paid them no mind. He was staring at the small dragons hovering around the two of them, chirping worriedly. 

“A shapeshifter cannot imitate a demon, Jesse,” Hanzo chuckled as Jesse stared, moon-eyed, at the ancient spirits, then back at him with a reverence that made his heart skip ten beats in his chest. “Hello again, my sunflower.”

And he was pulled into Jesse’s arms again.

“Hanzo- Han, you’re here, you came back to me, snapdragon, you came back-“ He babbled on, clutching Hanzo close to his chest. Hanzo let go, relaxing completely as he buried his face in the side of Jesse’s neck and allowed himself to simply breathe. His sunflower held him like his life depended on it, and Hanzo held him in kind, arms around his waist as he felt all the fears and doubts of the last half a decade ease into nothing.

When they finally part, Jesse pressed his lips to the top of his head, then leaned his forehead against Hanzo’s. Their noses brushed. He didn’t think he had never felt more at peace.

Jesse was the first to speak, his voice trembling. “What happened?”

“Talon got to me after the building collapsed.”

“It was charmed. Hana said it hurt to even _look_ at it.” 

“I did not say they took me unscathed.” Hanzo tilted his head to the side, revealing a nasty scar in the place his shoulder and neck connected, where the enchanted iron had cut into his skin, burning like some sort brand. “It was a near thing.”

Jesse took a shuddering breath and pulled his arms tighter around him. “How the hell did you get out of there, baby?”

“A quite complicated plan and some spellwork.” A beat passed by. “But four years is a long time for one to think.”

“I bet it is, snapdragon.” Jesse let out a low, magnificent chuckle at that, and finally, finally pressed his lips to Hanzo’s in a kiss full of just as much love and light as the one they had last shared five years past.

**Author's Note:**

> And that's a wrap! Wow, I can't believe I finished this thing. It's only like two thousand or so words, but it feels like much more. I only meant for it to be like a 2-300 word exercise and suddenly it became... this. Either way, I'm happy to finally be here, and I hope you all enjoyed.
> 
> (PS - I may or may not make another fic or two of his reunion with Hana, Genji, and the rest of the Overwatch crew, so keep your eyes peeled for that if you were a fan of this!)


End file.
